The Performance of a Vestibule Pressurization System for the Protection of Escape Routes of a 17-Story Hotel Tamura, G

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The performance of a vestibule pressurization system for the protection of escape routes of a 17-story hotel Tamura, G. T.

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THE PERFORMANCE OF A VESTLBULE PRESSURIZATION I SYSTEM FOR THE PROTECTION OF ESCAPE ROUTES I OF A 17-STORY HOTEL I by G. T. Tamura

I=;E~. 7 LlBRARY Reprinted from p ASHRAE Trans actions 81- 01- 02 Vol. 86, Part 1, 1980 i p. 593 603 - BIBLC~~~~~':QUE?I Rech. 82:ini. c hr ,T, . - i - I

DBR Papei- 111-1.- - 7 2% Division of : Build ing Re,search

Price $1. 25 OTTAWA RESUME -.

On a effectu6 des essais en hiver sur le systsme de protection mscanique du vestibule d'un h8tel 2 appartements de 17 6tages situ6 5 Ottawa et construit en 1974. Le systeme a 6te conqu pour prot6ger contre la conta- mination par la fum6e un ensemble comprenant une cage d'escalier et une cage pour deux ascenseurs situ6es 2 une extr6mit6 d'un couloir. On a

6valu6 la performance du systzme de protection en effectuant des mesures des courants d'air et des pressions pour r6aliser un sch6ma de la circu- lation et de la pression dans l'immeuble; cel3 a permis de deviner le comportement probable de la fum6e pendant un incendie. Les essais ont d6montr6 que le systsme de pressurisation du vestibule devrait assurer une protection efficace contre la contamination par la fum6e des cages des ascenseurs et de l'escalier. THE PERFORMANCE OF A VESTIBULE PRESSURIZATION SYSTEM FOR THE PROTECTION OF ESCAPE ROUTES-OF A 17-STORY HOTEL

G.T. TAMURA, P.Eng. Member ASHRAE

INTRODUCTION

The migration of smoke into elevator and stair shafts as a result of a fire in a building can pose a threat to the lives of occupants, particularly in high-rise buildings where rapid evacuation may not be possible. Several measures to provide protection against this hazard were developed by the Division of Building Research, National Research Council of Canada, and were first published in 1970~;the most recent information on these measures was published in 1977.2 One of the smoke control measures in the original document is identified as the "Protected Vestibule Access to Stairs and Elevators." This measure is intended to restrict the movement of smoke through the escape routes by providing vestibules that are either naturally vented to the exterior by means of an opening in the outside wall, or mechanically pressurized with outdoor air. With this method, a single vestibule on each floor can be used to protect a group of stair and elevator shafts in contrast to shaft pressurization where each shaft is treated separately. The vestibule also provides an additional door, which can assist in preventing adverse flow of smoke when an elevator or a stair door is opened, and serves as a staging area on the fire floor for fire fighters. The results of tests on a vestibule-type protection system with an outside-air mechanical supply to the vestibule and the associated stair shaft have been reported by Cottle et a1.,3 and by ~a~enkolb~for a system with supply and exhaust of air in both the vestibule and the protected stair shaft.

Tests were conducted in December of 1976 on the vestibule pressurization system of a 17-story apartment hotel tower (Fig. 1) situated in Ottawa and built in 1974. It was designed to protect from smoke contamination both the one stair shaft and 2-car elevator shaft, located at one end of the corridor. Although the stair shaft was provided with a pressurization system, the test results reported in this paper were obtained with this system shut down. To evaluate the performance of the vestibule protection system alone, tests were also conducted with the building ventilation systems in operation and shut down and, also, with various combinations of vestibule, room and balcony doors open to assess the probable movement of smoke in the event of a fire in a room.

DESCRIPTION OF THE VESTIBULE PROTECTION SYSTEM The pressurization fan is located in the exterior wall of the 2nd floor and supplies air to the vertical duct that distributes the supply of outside air to the vestibules on the various floors (Fig. 2). A branch duct located in the linen room on each floor connects the vertical distribution duct to the supply grille in the wall of the vestibule (Fig. 3). The protected vestibule, which is located at one end of the corridor, gives access to the stairs, the 2-car elevator, and the corridor. The two vestibule doors to the corridor are held open during normal occupancy with electrically activated magnetic door holders, which are deactivated upon receipt of a fire alarm. The enclosed floor area of the vestibule is 25.36 m2 (273 ft2).

A second stair shaft without a vestibule is located at the opposite end of the corridor. Each room is provided with a swing-type glass door that gives access to a balcony. The corridors are supplied with make-up air, and air is exhausted from the rooms via the washrooms

G.T. Tamura, Research Officer, Energy and Services Section, Division of Building Research, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, K1A OR6 Canada and discharged to the exterior above the roof of the building. The fans for make-up and exhaust, which are located in the top mechanical room, are shut down during a fire emergency. The required supply air rate calculated from Eq A1 of Appendix A, obtained from Ref 1, was 0.65 m3/s (1,380 cfm) per vestibule for a total flow rate of 10.4 m3/s (22,000 cfm). The capacity of the supply air fan that was installed for vestibule pressurization was 15.8 m3/s (33,450 cfm) at about 50 Pa (0.20 in. of water) static pressure. Eq A1 is intended to account for leakage flow from the vestibule to the corridor, floor space, and elevator and stair shafts, with the vestibule pressurized by 25 Pa (0.10 in. of water) greater than its surroundings. The value of factor E of Eq Al, which is given in Fig. Al, depends on building height. It is intended to take into account the adverse pressure difference caused by stack action during cold weather. TEST PROCEDURE

Tests were conducted under the following situations: Test No. 1) Building ventilation systems in normal operation; 2) Building ventilation systems shut down; 3) Vestibule pressurization system in operation; 4) Vestibule pressurization system, and make-up and washroom exhaust systems in operation. Tests No. 1 and 2 were conducted to compare the pressure and air flow patterns with those of Test No. 3 (vestibule pressurization system in operation). Test No. 4 was conducted to determine the effect of the operation of the make-up and washroom exhaust systems with the vestibule pressurization system in operation. For each test configuration, measurements were made firstly with all doors closed and secondly with various doors of the 5th floor open. This floor was chosen as the hypothetical fire floor with Room 505 as the hypothetical fire room. One of the two vestibule doors on this floor was either intentionally open or closed, as well as the entrance door of Room 505 and the balcony door, which was open to give a free area of 0.37 m2 (4.0 ft2) to simulate an opening created by glass breakage caused by a fire.

During each test, pressure differences were measured across the doors of the vestibule, stair, elevator, and entrance and balcony of a room on each side of the corridor. These measurements were made on floors 1,3,5,8,11,14 and 17, with a diaphragm-type pressure transducer calibrated with a micromanometer and corrected for zero shift before each reading. The supply air rates to the vestibules were calculated from the air velocity measurements made with a hot wire anemometer traverse at the supply air grilles. This technique was also used to measure the flow rates at the open doors where the flow was uni-directional. Where it was not, only the flow direction was recorded by running a smoke pencil from the top to the bottom of the door opening. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The pressure and flow measurements were made to determine the probable pattern of the movement of smoke from a fire in a room on a lower floor of a high-rise building. These tests were conducted primarily to help assess the performance of the vestibule pressurization system and to compare its performance with the building air-handling systems operating and also with them shut down. The results of the tests are presented, firstly to give an overall picture of the pressure and air flow patterns for the 4 test configurations and, secondly, to determine .the smoke movement on the 5th floor, which was designated as the fire floor, with various combinations of open and closed doors on this floor. At the time of the test, the outside temperature was -ll°C (12OF) and the wind was from the northwest at 19 km/h (11.8 mph) recorded at the airport. A. General Air Flow and Pressure Patterns Test A1 - Building Ventilation Systems in Normal Operation. Fig. 4 gives the air flow and pressure patterns for all typical floors, with the make-up air and the washroom exhaust systems in operation and the two-vestibule doors open. The directions of flow were into stair No. 1 and into the elevators at the lower floors and out from them at the upper floors, which is the characteristic flow pattern caused by stack action. The direction of air flow across the doors of stair No. 2 was from the stair to the corridor. When this stair shaft was checked afterwards, it was found that a stair door leading directly to a lunchroom in the basement had been left open, which apparently allowed a substantial flow of air from this room into the stair shaft.

The combination of make-up air supply to the corridor and washroom exhaust from the room resulted in pressure differences of 2 to 20 Pa (0.008 to 0.080 in. of water) across the room entrance door with air flowing from the corridor into the rooms. This flow pattern is favorable in terms of preventing the transfer of smoke from the room to the rest of the building during a fire, as well as odor during normal occupancy. The room pressures were all negative with respect to the outside pressures, which resulted in air infiltration through the exterior walls of all typical floors.

Test A2 - Building Ventilation Systems Shut Down. With the make-up air and washroom exhaust fans turned off, the flow patterns across the stair and elevator doors were about the same as when the fans were on (Fig. 5). The directions of flow across some of the room entrance doors were from the corridor into the room, with the measured pressure differences ranging from 0 to 2 Pa (0 to 0.008 in. of water). The pressure differences measured across the balcony doors indicated that the neutral pressure level was located at about the 13th floor level, with air infiltration through the exterior walls below this level and air exfiltration above it.

In the event of a window breakage in the fire room, the pressure difference across the exterior wall would be transferred to the corridor wall and, hence, a fire located on a lower floor is much more serious in terms of smoke contamination than one located on an upper floow.

Test A3 - Vestibule Pressurization System in Operation. Fig. 6 gives the pressure and flow patterns with the vestibule pressurization system operating with the two vestibule doors closed and with the make-up air and the washroom exhaust fans shut down. The vestibules were pressurized from 34 to 47 Pa (0.14 to 0.19 in. of water) above the corridor pressures. From the measurements of pressure differences across the room entrance and balcony door, the vestibule pressures were higher than the outside pressures by 23 Pa (0.092 in. of water) on the 2nd floor, and ranged up to 67 Pa (0.27 in. of water) on the top floor. Fig. 6 indicates that air flowed from the corridor to the rooms and, also, that the neutral pressure level was lowered from the 13th floor, as obtained from the previous case (Test A2), to the 10th floor level indicating that the rooms were indirectly pressurized when the vestibules were pressurized.

The rates of outside supply air measured at the supply air grilles of the vestibule were as follows:

Flow Rate, Air Change 3 Floor m /S (cfm) per Hour

17 0.315 (667) 18 14 0.304 (644) 17 11 0.326 (690) 19 8 0.364 (771) 21 5 0.532 (1127) 31 3 0.555 (1173) 32

3 These supply air rates were less than 0.65 m /s (1380 cfm), which was calculated according to Eq Al. The pressure differences across the vestibule doors, however, were greater than 25 Pa (0.10 in. of water), and the pressures of the lower vestibules were greater than the outside pressures. Allowing for an increase in the adverse pressure difference due to stack action, they would still be greater than the outside pressures at the winter design temperature of -2S°C (-13OF) for Ottawa. This ensures that the flow direction during cold weather would be from the vestibule to the corridor even if the corridor pressures approached the outside pressures with the entrance door of the fire room open and the glass of the exterior wall broken in that room. The relatively high air change rates in the vestibules would assist in diluting and dispersing any smoke that might have migrated into the vestibule. It would appear that Eq A1 gives a good estimate of the required supply air rate to the vestibules. It is better to err on the high side because the supply air rates can be easily adjusted to lower values, whereas it is difficult to adjust to higher values. It should be cautioned that Eq A1 does not take into account air leakages other than those of the doors in the vestibule enclosure. It is seen that the supply air rates decreased with height, with the supply air rate at the top equal to about one-half of that at the 3rd floor. Despite the imbalance of the supply air flow to the vestibules, the amount of pressurization to the vestibule was essentially uniform, probably owing to the redistribution of supply air through the elevator shaft.

Locating the supply air fan near the bottom of the building, as in this case, is more desirable than at the top of the building because the supply air rates are likely to be greater near the bottom where the adverse stack effect is greatest and where stack action can assist the fan during cold weather. Also, there is less likelihood of ingestion of smoke at the fan intake.

Test A4 - Vestibule Pressurization Make-up and Washroom Exhaust Systems in Operation. Fig. 7 shows the pressure and flow patterns with the make-up air and washroom exhaust systems together with the vestibule pressurization system in operation. The pressure differences across the vestibule and room entrance doors were greater for this case than those with only the vestibule pressurization system in operation (Fig. 6). It would appear that operating the make-up air and washroom exhaust systems can improve the performance of a vestibule pressurization system.

B. Results of Door-Opening Tests on the 5th Floor

Test B1 - Building Ventilation Systems in Normal Operation. The results of the door- opening tests conducted in Room 505 of the 5th floor with the make-up air and washroom exhaust systems in operation are given in Fig. 8, which shows the pattern of smoke flow on this floor assuming that cold smoke was generated in Room 505. With the room entrance and the balcony doors closed (Fig. 8A), air flowed into the room through both the corridor and exterior walls with the smoke exhausted through the washroom exhaust systems.

The pressure difference of 39 Pa (0.15 in. of water) across the exterior wall and that of 4 Pa (0.02 in. of water) across the corridor wall indicated that the outside pressure was 35 Pa (0.13 in. of water) higher than the corridor pressure because of the combination of stack action of 22 Pa (0.09 in. of water) as given in Fig. 5 and the operation of the building ventilation systems. Thus, when the balcony door was open to simulate window breakage caused by a fire (Fig. 8B), air flowed into the room from the exterior, raised the room pressures, and reversed the direction of flow at the room entrance door. As a result, smoke from the room flowed into the corridor and spread to other units and into the elevator and stair shafts. Opening only the room entrance door (Fig. 8C) resulted in an interchange of room and corridor air with a consequent contamination of other units and the elevator and stair shafts. When the balcony door was also open (Fig. 8D) the potential for the spread of smoke into these areas was greatly increased as indicated by the increase in the unfavorable pressure differences across the doors of other units and the doors of the elevator and stair shafts. The flow through the open door of Room 505 for this case was 1.39 m3/s (2,945 cfm) .

It is seen that the operation of the make-up air and washroom exhaust system is effective as a smoke control measure as long as the integrity of the exterior wall of the room on fire is intact and its door to the corridor is closed. Otherwise, smoke contamination of the corridor, other units on the fire floor, and the elevator and stair shafts can be expected.

Test B2 - Vestibule Pressurization System in Operation. The results of the tests conducted with the vestibule pressurization system in operation with both vestibule doors closed are shown in Fig. 9. Fig. 9A indicates that the corridor pressure was lower than the outside pressure by 6 Pa (0.025 in, of water) and that the vestibule pressure was higher than the outside pressure by 41 Pa (0.16 in. of water). Opening either the balcony or room entrance doors or both for Room 505 resulted in contamination of the corridor and other units, but the vestibule, elevator and stair shafts were kept free of smoke as shown in Fig. 9B, 9C and 9D.

The tests with the vestibule pressurization system in operation were repeated with one of the vestibule doors open. The rate of air flow through the open vestibule door was 0.83 m3/s (1, 760 cfm), which raised the corridor pressures by 9 Pa (0.036 in. of water) above outside pressures. As a result, the corridor and other units on the 5th floor were kept free of smoke except for the case with only the room entrance door open, as shown in Fig. 10. In all cases, the vestibule, elevator and stair shafts were protected from smoke contamination.

As seen in Fig. 10A and 10B, the flow directions across the elevator and stair doors reversed when the vestibule door was opened. The resultant leakage flow from these shafts into the vestibule together with a probable increase in the flow at the supply air grille contributed to the flow of air at the open vestibule door, which was significantly greater than the supply air rate to the vestibule with its doors closed.

The tests with the building ventilation systems (make-up air and washroom exhaust systems) operating with the vestibule pressurization system indicated that the air flow patterns were similar to those with only the vestibule pressurization system operating, except for the case where one of the vestibule doors and both the balcony and room doors were open. For this case, there was an interchange of outdoor and room air at the balcony door opening, and also of the corridor and room air at the open entrance door, which resulted in smoke contamination of the corridor and other units on the 5th floor. Because of the various conditions that may occur during a fire, it is not clear whether it would be better to operate the make-up air and exhaust systems together with the vestibule pressurization system.

The tests have indicated that the vestibule pressurization system was effective in protecting the elevator and stair shafts from smoke contamination. Under certain situations, however, the corridor and rooms on the fire floor can be contaminated with smoke, particularly when the entrance door of the room on fire is left open. Providing closures for room entrance doors, therefore, can significantly reduce the amount of smoke contamination. In addition to vestibule pressurization, mechanical pressurization of the stair shaft and elevator shaft or bottom venting the shafts to the exterior in winter provides added protection to these escape routes.

C. Vestibule Air Temperature

During the tests, the air temperature of the vestibule was taken near the stair shaft. As shown in Fig. 11, the air temperature of the vestibule on the 5th floor dropped rapidly during the first hour to reach a quasi-steady state temperature of 1.6OC (35'~). Soon after the end of the series of tests, which lasted for about 3 h, the hot water pipe of the radiator unit beneath the windor burst on several floors, probably because of freezing. As can be seen in Fig. 2, the supply air grille was located near and above the radiator unit which was cooled by the downwash to below the measured air temperature. Tempering of the supply air during cold weather should be considered to avoid freezing of water lines as well as to provide comfort to the occupants who are leaving the building by this route. D. Fire Experiences

There is evidence to indicate that air pressures can contribute to the control of smoke during a fire. A fire in a room on the 12th floor of a 13-story apartment building reported by ~albreath,~which involved the kitchen and living room area, resulted in the breakage of a large picture window. The occupant took refuge on the balcony. The fire fighters reached the 12th floor corridor to find it was free of smoke. When the door to the apartment was opened the corridor filled with smoke, but this dispersed rapidly as the fire fighters brought the fire under control. The outside temperature at the time of the fire was 24OC (7S°F). The pressure difference across the door measured at a later date indicated that the corridor pressure was 7.5 Pa (0.030 in. of water) above the room pressure.

Another fire incident reported by ~a~lor~involved a room on the 20th floor of a 21-story apartment building. The occupant left the room closing the door behind him. The corridor on this floor was smoke free when the fire fighters arrived despite the fact that the door was burned off. The make-up air system was designed for corridor pressurization of 25 Pa (0.10 in. of water). Because the fire occurred in March, and at a high level of the building, stack action together with the make-up air supply prevented the smoke from flowing into-the corridor. Stack action would have been detrimental if a fire had occurred in a room located on one of the lower floors.

CONCLUSIONS

The tests conducted in winter have indicated that the vestibule pressurization system of.the test building likely would provide effective protection against smoke contamination of the elevator and stair shafts in the event of a fire even with glass breakage in the fire room or with the door to that room open. The vestibules were pressurized from 34 to 47 Pa (0.14 to 0.19 in. of water) above the corridor pressures and sufficiently above outside pressures to counteract stack action at the winter design temperature. Eq A1 of Ref 1 gives a good estimate of the required supply air rate for vestibule pressurization. The vestibule pressurization system or other smoke control systems are unlikely to prevent the contamination of the corridor and other units of the fire floor when the door to the fire room is left open and the exterior wall of the fire room remains intact. Providing automatic closures to the doors at the room entrance can greatly reduce the possibility of an intolerable level of smoke in the corridor.

. With only the make-up air and the room exhaust systems operating, which is the normal mode of operation, the amount of corridor pressurization, which inhibits the flow of smoke from the fire room to the corridor, varied from 2 to 20 Pa (0.008 to 0.080 in. of water) above room pressures. Tests have indicated, however, that in winter, with the fire room located on one of the lower floors and with an opening in the exterior wall of that room, this amount of pressurization is insufficient to prevent the contamination of the elevator and stair shafts, as well as other units on the fire floor.

It was uncertain from the test results whether it would be better to operate the make-up air and exhaust systems with the vestibule pressurization system in operation. Although not validated during the test, from examination of the pressure and flow patterns, it is likely that the possibility of flow of smoke from the washroom exhaust stack into the upper rooms from a fire in a room on a lower floor is reduced.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author gratefully acknowledges Urbanetics Ltd. for the arrangement made to conduct the tests and the cooperation received during the tests; Clemann Large Patterson and Assoc. Ltd. for the discussion of the protection system during the design stage and their assistance during the tests; and Morguard Properties Ltd., the owner representative, and Pension Fund Realty Limited, the owner of the building, for permission to publish this paper. He also wishes to thank C.Y. Shaw and R.G. Evans for their assistance in the field tests.

REFERENCES

1. "Explanatory Paper on Control of Smoke Movement in High Buildings," Associate Committee on the National Building Code, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Canada, NRCC No. 11413, 1970.

2. 'IMeasures for Fire Safety in High Buildings," Associate Committee on the National Building Code, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Canada, NRCC No. 15764, 1977.

3. Cottle, T.H., Bailey, T.A., Butcher, E.G., and C. Shore, "Smoke Tests in the Pressurized Stairs and Lobbies in a 26-storey Office Building,I1 Fire Research Note No. 850, Joint Fire Research Organization, November, 1970.

4. Degenkolb, J.G., 'Smoke Proof Enclosures," ASHRAE Journal, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 33-38, 1971.

5. Galbreath, M., and G.W. Shorter, "Air Pressures Contribute to a Smoke-Free Corridor," Fire Research Note No. 3, Division of Building Research, National Research Council of Canada, April, 1966.

6. Taylor, R.E., "The Carlyle Apartment Fire: Study of a Pressurized Corridor," ASHRAE Journal, Vol. 17, No. 4, pp. 52-55, 1975. PRESSURIZED VESTIBULE

Fig. 1 Test building Fig. 2 Vestibule pressurization system

1. VESTIBULE PRESSURIZATION FAN - 2ND FLOOR 2. MAGNETIC VESTIBULE DOOR HOLDER 3. VERTICAL SHAFT FOR DISTRIBUTING SUPPLY AIR FOR PRESSURIZATION

Fig. 3 Plan of typical floor HOOM KOOM VESTIBULE CORRIDOR ROOM ROOM -- I-

OUTSIDE TEMP --ll°C OUTSIDE TEMP -11°C NOTE. PRESSURE DIFFERENTIAL IS IN PASCALS NOTE: PRESSURE DIFFERENTIAL IS IN PASCALS WIND 19 km/h WIND 19 km/h Fig. 4 Pressure differential and air flow Fig. 6 Pressure differential and air flow pattern with building ventilation systems pattern with vestibule pressurization in normal opera tion system in operation

KOOM KOOM VESTIBULE CORRIDOR ROOM ROOM. I DWARD I/lt4D/,ARLJ

OUTSIDE TEMP -11'C OUTSIDE TEMP -11°C NOTE: PRESSURE DIFFERENTIAL IS IN PASCALS WIND 19 km/h NOTE: PRESSURE DIFFERENTIAL IS IN PASCALS WIND 19 km/h Fig. 5 Pressure differential and air flow Fig. 7 Pressure differential and air flow pattern with building ventilation systems pattern with vestibule pressurization, shut down make-up air and washroom exhaust systems in operation A - VESTIBULE DOORS CLOSED

VESTIBULE VESTIBULE CORRIDOR - +RR'DOR 1 t +.+ -1 7 +.+ I 39+qqqz7+39 I +-I +-j;?J 1 5TAIR ELLVATOR 57hIK STAIR ELEVATOR STAIR NO. I NO 1 NO. 1 NO. 2

... . B - ~ALCONY DOOH OP~N ROOM 505 B - ONE VESTIBULE DOOR OPEN ROOM 505

lq-+.

0.83 m3/s i C ROOM DOUR DPtN C BALCONY DOOR OPEN ROOM 505 ,., - ROOM 505 -

. ,

D - BALCONY ANb ROOM D - ROOM DOOR OPEN ROOM 505 . DOOR OPtN ROOM 5C5

E - BALCONY AND ROOM NOTE PRESSURE DIFFERENTIAL IS IN PASCALS DOOR OPEN ROOM 505

Fig. 8 Results of door-opening tests on 5th floor - building ventilation systems in normal operation (two vestibule doors NOTE PRESSURE DIFFERENTIAL IS IN PASCALS open) Fig. 10 Results of door-opening tests on 5th floor - vestibule pressurization system in operation (one vestibule door open

VESTIBULE CORRIDOR ROOM 7- I ( +7]+*+.. I .+*Il? STAIR ELEVATOR STAIR NO. 1 NO. 2

B - BALCONY DOOR OPEN , ROOM 505

C - ROOM DOOR OPEN ROOM 505

D - BALCONY AND ROOM DOOR OPEN ROOM 505

-=.!-2 +~.'k7+, ,.4.6 .:;,. . I +--I I -..:;--. . .. 0.24 "s3/: TIME, h NOTE PRESSURE DIFFERENTIAL IS IN PASCALS

Fig. 11 Vestibule air temperature on Fig. 9 Results of door-opening tests on the 5th floor 5th floor - vestibule pressurization system in operation (vestibule doors closed)

DISCUSSION

ROBERT E. TAYLOR, Coordinator, Codes & Standards, Republic Steel Corp., Cleveland, OH: Is there any reason why elevators should not be used for evacuation when vestibules are pressurized in high-rise apartment structures or office buildings?

G.T. TAMURA: Elevators can be used for evacuation, provided that the door open- ing mechanisms are protected from heat and smoke; the elevator shaft is main- tained free of smoke; electrical conductors for the operation of elevators are protected against exposure to fire; there is an emergency power supply for the operation of elevators; and elevators are operated manually by responsFble per- sons.

PAT SCHUROTT, Dir. of Eng., Oxford-Anschutz Devel. Co., Denver, CO: ("general" question) With the number of various structures and systems, is there a formula or series of formulas that will satisfy design intent and actual operation dur- ing a fire mode?

G.T. TAMURA: There are data and formulas in various publications which can assist in the design of a smoke control system. ASHRAE T.C. 5.6, Fire and Smoke Control, is currently undertaking a research project to produce a designer's manual for smoke control systems. This publication is being distributed by the Division of Building Research of the National Research Council of Canada. It should not be reproduced in whole or in part without permission of the original publisher. The Di- vieion would be glad to be of assistance in obtaining such permission. Publications of the Division may be obtained by mail- ing the appropriate remittance (a Bank, Express, or Post Office Money Order, or a cheque, made payable to the Receiver General of Canada, credit NRC) to the National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa. KIA OR6. Stamps are not acceptable. A list of allpublications of the Divisionis available and may be obtained from the Publications Section. Division of Building Research, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa. KIA OR 6.